business
Illinois Is Smoking: Pot Sales Peak, Thanks to Lollapalooza
Because recreational marijuana was legalized in Illinois in January 2020, pot was legal in the state during Lollapalooza for the first time in the festival’s 30-year history. Although it’s illegal to smoke or otherwise consume the drug in public or around anyone younger than 21 years old, the large crowds at Grant Park boosted sales by as much as 50% at nearby dispensaries in River North and the West Loop, operators told the Chicago Tribune. “We saw thousands of festivalgoers over the weekend at our River North store, making it our biggest weekend to date,” said Jason Erkes, spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, whose Sunnyside Dispensary in River North was the closest to the festivities. In July, Illinois’ 110 dispensaries sold a record 2.8 million recreational weed products. State res...
Dan Goldberg, Former Warner Music Vet, Tapped to Lead Music Merch Expansion at Fanatics
Dan Goldberg, the Warner Music Group veteran who recently exited the music major after more than a decade, is taking his talents to Fanatics, the leading seller of licensed sportwear. At Fanatics, Goldberg will continue to play in the music world in a role that sees him focusing his attention on shirts, caps and other merch sold at concerts and music festivals, according to Sportico, which broke the news. Goldberg has expertise in the space. Prior to his departure from Warner Music in June, he served as senior VP of the company’s Artist Services division, with responsibilities for the group’s e-commerce, tour merchandising, VIP experiences, ticketing, and fan club businesses. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It ...
UK Artists Granted Visa-Free Touring in 19 EU Countries in Post-Brexit Agreements
The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry have masked many of the problems created by Brexit for the live-music sector. And fears have lingered about extra customs checks and performers and crews requiring visa and work permits for when European touring does resume. According to a survey conducted by the Musicians’ Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians in April and May, 77% of U.K. musicians expected their earnings in Europe to decrease when touring resumes due to additional Brexit-related red tape and touring costs. In January, over 100 acts, including Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Radiohead, signed an open letter to the British government saying it had “shamefully failed” them with the EU trade deal that was finalized on Dec. 24 by not s...
Sylvan Esso Teams With Secretly For Psychic Hotline Label
Though the label has quietly released music since 2018 from artists in and around the group’s North Carolina community, Psychic Hotline now has a distribution partner in Secretly Distribution, part of the Secretly Group, and a vision for expansion that involves artist-centric deals. “We’ve always been really lucky to have a management that has negotiated really aggressive, very artist-centric deals for us, which I think is one of the reasons why our experience with labels has been relatively less painful,” Meath says. Those artist-friendly negotiations involved securing short-term deals with labels, which is why, for example, the band already fully owns its 2014 self-titled debut album. Meath and Sanborn plan on offering similar short-term, flexible deals to artists who sign with them. “We...
Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ Is Hurtling to U.K. No. 1
Billie Eilish should be happier than ever. Her new album is crushing its rivals in the U.K. chart race. The teenage alternative pop phenomenon’s sophomore set, Happier Than Ever (Interscope), leads the midweek chart after selling more units (vinyl, cassette, CDs and downloads) than the rest of the Top 10 combined, the OCC reports. If it claims the crown, Eilish will go two-for-two, after her 2019 debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? logged three weeks at No. 1, making her the youngest female artist to rule the national albums chart. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, shar...
Dave, Ed Sheeran Rule U.K. Charts
We’re All Alone is the biggest opening week since November 2019, when Coldplay’s Everyday Life started with 81,000 combined sales, and it’s the biggest opening week for a British hip-hop/rap album since October 2010 and since Tinie Tempah’s debut Disc-Overy. According to the OCC, some 56% of We’re All Alone sales are physical (vinyl, CD, cassette) and downloads, while streams account for the remainder, chalking up 38.5 million plays across the album’s dozen songs. Dave debut LP Psychodrama logged one week at No. 1 in 2019. Coming in at No. 2 is Anne-Marie’s second album Therapy (Atlantic), eclipsing her previous best of No. 3 for her debut, Speak Your Mind. Further down the list, The Kid Laroi’s evolving mixtape F**k Love (RCA) flies 52-6, for a new peak. The set fires up following the rel...
Billie Eilish Cruising to Highest New Entry on U.K. Chart
Eilish enjoyed some peak-time spotlight on Saturday (July 31) when she appeared for an interview on the BBC’s Up Close, and performed several songs. Despite its healthy weekend activity, “Happier Than Ever” is well off the pace of the leader, “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran. “Bad Habits” is the market leader on both sales and streams and is heading for a sixth consecutive week at No. 1. Meanwhile, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber are on target for another week in the runner-up spot, while Jonasu’s “Black Magic” lifts 5-2, and is chasing a new peak position. The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday, local time. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beaut...
Primary Wave Quietly Amasses Largest Individual Share in Prince’s Estate
New York-based Primary Wave has been acquiring expectancy interests in the Prince estate piecemeal for the last 17 months from three of his six heirs. However, the situation is complicated because the estate remains in probate administered through Comerica Bank & Trust and none of the heirs have received any distribution of assets. Sources say the probate issues could be resolved as early as the end of the year. According to documents filed July 20 in Minnesota’s Carver County district court, in March 2020 “the protocols” surrounding the estate were amended after Primary Wave purchased a portion of Prince sibling Tyka Nelson’s expectancy interest. Subsequently, an April 2021 order confirmed Primary Wave’s acquisition of 100% of the expectancy interest of Nelson’s late half brothe...
MusiCares & The Onsite Foundation Partner for Workshop to Help Music Professionals Affected by Pandemic
“The music industry was greatly affected by COVID, as individuals lost their sense of security and identity, experienced tremendous loss and grief, and struggled to cope with the loss of control over their own destiny,” said Laura Hutfless, FlyteVu co-founder and president of the Onsite Foundation board of directors in a statement. “We are so thankful that MusiCares has stepped up to help us meet this overwhelming need with financial resources.” The workshop will provide tools, resources and educational sessions to guide individuals back to a place of wellness. “As the leading music charity, MusiCares is dedicated to supporting music people in times of crisis and beyond,” says Laura Segura, MusiCares executive director. “We’re excited to partner with The Onsite Foundation and create these ...
Executive Turntable: New Hires at Obama’s Media Company & Warner’s Social Justice Fund
Dan Fierman most recently served as president of Epic Media in Los Angeles, leading the media start-up to acquisition by Vox Media in 2019. Prior to that, he led news coverage at MTV, was the Editorial Director of the pop culture site Grantland and oversaw culture and special packages at GQ. He and Holmes oversaw the launch of The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, the podcast hosted by President Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Mark R. Wright was an executive at MACRO, where he developed and produced Juel Taylor’s directorial debut, They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix). His slate of projects also includes the Oscar-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah, Alan Yang’s Tigertail and Birth of Cool. He has produced several short films, including an award-winning science fiction film,...
The Kid Laroi, Justin Bieber ‘Stay’ at No. 1 in Australia
The highest new entry this week belongs to Lil Nas X, whose “Industry Baby” (Sony) featuring Jack Harlow, bows at No. 6. It’s Lil Nas X’s third Top Ten appearance in Australia, and the first single to chart from his forthcoming album Montero, following “Holiday” (which peaked at No. 42) and former leader “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”. Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, The Jungle Giants swing in to top spot with Love Signs (Amplifire/Orchard), for the Brisbane indie pop-rock outfit’s first No. 1. Frontman Sam Hales says it’s a “childhood dream come true.” He continues, “we set the goal to be completely independent in order to make albums we wanna make. It’s incredible to be sitting here today knowing that our record Love Signs just went No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.” Love Sign...
Reservoir Media Stock Stumbles on First Day of Trading
Roth CH Acquisition II shares had a $10 IPO price and briefly exceeded $11 in February. Since then, investors have showed less enthusiasm and with few exceptions have traded below $10 since mid-May. Reservoir, which had revenue estimated at $64 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, is now the fourth publicly traded company that focuses on music rights acquisitions — Hipgnosis Songs Royalty Fund, Round Hill Music Royalty Fund and One Media iP Group are listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is the first to trade in the U.S. and the first led by a female, CEO and founder Golnar Khosrowshahi. “This entry into the public markets is a testament to the growth and bright future that lies ahead within the industry,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement Thursday. “As we focus on our growth...
